The Strongest Talent Tree

It was late at night by the time he finished drinking with Xiong Tianfang. Feng Hao, feeling dizzy, returned to the pharmacy and went straight up to his room.

The sallow-faced woman in the room across from his was still quiet, which couldn’t help but make him a little worried. ’Did something go wrong with the antidote I concocted? No, I should go check on her.’

Still dizzy, he made his way to the door of the west-facing room. After a moment’s hesitation, he knocked.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK... KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK...

But there was still no response from inside. This made Feng Hao even more worried, and in his anxious state, he took out the room key, opened the door, and rushed in.

However, what greeted him was the sallow-faced woman’s bone-thin, delicate body and a sharp Sword Qi hurtling toward his face.

"You shameless fiend, get out!" the sallow-faced woman shouted, her eyes filled with shame and fury as she glared at Feng Hao through gritted teeth.

Because she had to apply the ointment all over her body, the sallow-faced woman was only wearing her undergarments for convenience. She had been in a decent mood, watching her body gradually recover, but then Feng Hao just had to come and disturb her at this exact moment.

Being naturally cold and proud, she had ignored Feng Hao’s knocking, pretending to be asleep. She never expected that Feng Hao would actually force his way in.

And that led to the scene just now.

Feng Hao was also completely stunned by the situation, especially by the Sword Qi hovering over his forehead, which terrified him. Judging from the fluctuations it emitted, a direct hit would undoubtedly mean instant death.

"My lady, let’s talk this out! I only barged in because I thought something had happened to you," Feng Hao explained hurriedly.

"Don’t you know how to knock?" the sallow-faced woman snapped as she quickly pulled on her clothes.

Feng Hao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "I swear to God, I was knocking for a long time."

The sallow-faced woman was taken aback and found herself at a loss for words. With a cold snort, she withdrew the Sword Qi.

As the Sword Qi dissipated, Feng Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Seeing as you meant well, I’ll let you off this time. Don’t disturb me again unless it’s important," the sallow-faced woman said, turning her head away proudly.

"Alright, as long as you’re okay."

Feng Hao gave an awkward smile and fled back to his own room. ’Damn, women who play with swords really are hot-tempered.’

It took him a long while to recover from the shock. He then sat cross-legged on his bed and began to cultivate.

...

In the days that followed, Feng Hao’s life returned to normal.

The sallow-faced woman remained in her room, listless and showing no intention of coming out. What Feng Hao found most baffling was that she didn’t even eat. Although Mages had good resistance to hunger, it was incredible that a sick person like her could go for days without food. It got to the point where Feng Hao began to suspect she had starved to death.

However, Feng Hao was smart enough not to disturb her, as the memory of their last encounter was still fresh in his mind.

Business at the pharmacy was as bleak as ever. Days went by with barely any customers. Even when someone did come in, they would turn around and leave after seeing the empty storefront.

Feng Hao wasn’t bothered by this. He was running a business of fate, after all. Those who were destined to would naturally find their way to him, just like the sallow-faced woman in the room upstairs.

Business or no business, Feng Hao didn’t stay idle. He would occasionally take on some alchemy jobs from the Thief God Hall, and he managed to rack up a good number of points over a few days.

In addition, his partnership with Xiong Tianfang was now well underway. In his free time, he would draw a few designs for cool-looking equipment, leaving the rest to Xiong Tianfang.

Finally, one day, the sallow-faced woman from upstairs came out. No, that’s not right—after being cured of the poison, she was no longer a sallow-faced woman.

She descended the stairs with an elegant, graceful posture. Her light green, sword-style attire outlined a perfect figure, and her delicate face exuded a striking, heroic aura that left Feng Hao dumbfounded.

If the sallow-faced woman from before was a shriveled, rotten apple, then the woman before him now was a fresh, juicy one.

’Damn, so she’s actually a beauty? No wonder she’s so arrogant!’ Feng Hao muttered, clicking his tongue.

The woman walked gracefully over to Feng Hao and said with a charming smile, "Your medicine is very effective. The poison in my body has been completely purged."

"As long as it worked," Feng Hao replied with a faint smile.

"In any case, I have to thank you. Without your antidote, I’m afraid I would never have made it back to Dust Wind alive."

"It was nothing. Those two pieces of sumu you gave me were precious enough," Feng Hao said with a light chuckle.

The woman pursed her lips and nodded. Her beautiful eyes shifted as she asked, "I still don’t know your name."

"Feng Hao."

"Mm, that’s a nice name." The woman gave a pretty nod, her red lips parting slightly. "My name is Yu Xiaoxiao. If you ever run into trouble in Dust Wind, you can come find me at Thousand Blades Valley."

Feng Hao was stunned. "You’re a disciple of Thousand Blades Valley?" he asked in surprise.

"What, do I not look the part?" Yu Xiaoxiao asked with a smile.

"No, no, it’s just that I never expected a disciple of Thousand Blades Valley to also cultivate Dark Force."

Yu Xiaoxiao covered her mouth and chuckled. "And why can’t we have Dark Force Mages in Thousand Blades Valley?"

"Fair enough," Feng Hao said, scratching his head in embarrassment. There was nothing he could say; he knew too little about Thousand Blades Valley, only that it was a cradle for Sword Magic Masters.

"Hehe, I should be taking my leave now. We’ll meet again."

Yu Xiaoxiao chuckled a few times and turned to leave. She had just reached the door when she suddenly stopped, walked quickly back to Feng Hao, and said, "Oh, right. That white ointment of yours is very effective. Could you refine a few more bottles for me?"

"Er..." Feng Hao faltered, just now remembering that the Snow Frost Ointment also had powerful skin-preserving effects. ’This woman sure has a good eye.’

Since that was the case, Feng Hao had no reason to refuse. He set about refining ten bottles of Snow Frost Ointment for her.

Yu Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up with joy when she received the Snow Frost Ointment. She carefully placed it into her Spatial Ring, then sized Feng Hao up for a moment with her beautiful eyes. She unfastened a viridian-green talisman from her waist. "I see you don’t even have a single protective accessory. Take this Demon Jade Talisman as payment."

Feng Hao was about to politely decline, but he found that Yu Xiaoxiao had already drifted away, leaving only a faint fragrance lingering in the air.

"Tsk tsk, a destined person indeed. Not only did she give me two pieces of sumu, but she even left behind a Protective Talisman."

Feng Hao let out a few surprised chuckles and subconsciously held the Demon Jade Talisman in his hand. A sweep of his Divine Sense quickly revealed the Protective Talisman’s stats:

[Demon Jade Talisman] (Tier Five)

Gang Qi Amplification: 27%

Qi Gathering: +2/s

Soul Pressure: 15

’Great Sect Disciples really are different, casually handing over a Tier Five Protective Talisman. And the stats are quite suitable for me, too.’

The 27% Gang Qi amplification was a given, but the Qi Gathering effect of +2 per second perfectly supplemented his Magic Power recovery. As for the 15 points of Soul Pressure, while a bit high, it was still manageable with his current Divine Sense strength of 56.

Losing 15 points of Divine Sense strength in exchange for a 27% Gang Qi amplification and a Qi Gathering ability of +2 was an excellent trade-off for him!

Satisfied, he hung the Demon Jade Talisman from his waist and immediately felt a Soul Pressure bearing down on his Divine Sense. At the same time, his Gang Qi ability was significantly enhanced, and he gained the Qi Gathering ability that was normally only available through spiritual root evolution.

’Unfortunately, my Divine Sense strength is still too low. Otherwise, I would have gotten a full set of protective accessories long ago.’

Feng Hao shook his head and sighed, then went back to handling his alchemy jobs from the Thief God Hall.

...

Meanwhile, at the Five Provinces Academy, an unprecedented equipment craze was unfolding.

When Xiong Tianfang released the first batch of finished equipment onto the market, it immediately caused a sensation. The young, fashion-conscious students were powerless to resist Feng Hao’s designs. They fought tooth and nail over them, with the female students, in particular, practically starting a full-on brawl.

In no time, the name "Xiong Tianfang of Artifact Refining" became the latest trend. It spread at an incredible speed, from the academy to the entire Five States City, from Five States City to the other Five Provinces Territory, and then throughout all of Beilang Country.

Even Feng Hao hadn’t expected that the cool equipment from games on Earth would trigger such an insane craze!